Does adoption of organic vegetable farming really improve the welfare of vegetable farmers? Evidence from Ghana

Recently, environmental consciousness and demand of healthy food have increased rapidly. In this context, organic agriculture has been used in all countries. In addition, production area and producers have increased each passing days. “Organic agriculture” also known as “ecological agriculture or biological agriculture” is a production method that aims eco-friendly production, development of plant resistance, and conservations of agriculture soil. Besides, organic agriculture aims to reconstruct of lost natural balance. Organic agriculture bans use of pesticides, hormones, and chemical fertilizers. Especially, organic agriculture gained a commercial dimension with the increasing of consumer demands in 1980s. In organic cotton agriculture, genetically modified cotton seeds are not used. The fundamental of organic cotton agriculture is that cotton seeds are not treated microwave energy and radiation. Organic cotton agriculture consists of all agriculture systems that encourage eco-friendly fiber production. Furthermore, it causes to remove use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals. For this reason, organic agriculture causes to increase the fertility of soil. In this chapter, organic agriculture, organic cotton agriculture, comparison conventional cotton agriculture with organic cotton agriculture, environmental impacts of organic cotton agriculture, and use of organic cotton products were investigated.KeywordsOrganic cottonOrganic agricultureEnvironmental impacts

There is an increasing demand for education in organic and sustainable agriculture from undergraduates, graduate students and extension agents. In this paper, we discuss highlights and evaluations of a multilevel approach to education currently being developed at North Carolina State University (NCSU) that integrates interdisciplinary training in organic and sustainable agriculture and the related discipline of agroecology through a variety of programs for undergraduate students, graduate students, and extension agents. These educational programs are possible because of a committed interdisciplinary faculty team and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, a facility dedicated to sustainable and organic agriculture research, education, and outreach. Undergraduate programs include an inquiry-based sustainable agriculture summer internship program, a sustainable agriculture apprenticeship program, and an interdisciplinary agroecology minor that includes two newly developed courses in agroecology and a web-based agroecology course. Research projects and a diversity of courses focusing on aspects of sustainable and organic agriculture are available at NCSU for graduate students and a PhD sustainable agriculture minor is under development. A series of workshops on organic systems training offered as a graduate-level course at NCSU for extension agents is also described. Connecting experiential training to a strong interdisciplinary academic curriculum in organic and sustainable agriculture was a primary objective and a common element across all programs. We believe the NCSU educational approach and programs described here may offer insights for other land grant universities considering developing multilevel sustainable agriculture educational programs.

Effect of organic, sustainable, and conventional management strategies in grower fields on soil physical, chemical, and biological factors and the incidence of Southern blight

An experiment was conducted to study the earthworm diversity and its influence on soil enzyme activities in organic, sustainable and conventional farming systems in the state of Puducherry. A total of five earthworm species namely Drawida willsi, Drawida scandens, Lampito mauritii, Perionyx excavates and Eudrilus eugeniae were present in the study sites. Four species were found in conventional and sustainable farming and five species were found in organic farming. Earthworm species diversity, population, species dominance, and biomass were significantly higher in organic farming systems compared to sustainable and conventional farming systems. In addition, soils from organic farming showed higher activity of urease, alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, cellulase, invertase and xylanase activities and they had a significant positive correlation with earthworm population and biomass. Our results revealed that the presence of earthworms strongly affected enzyme activities in soil. Earthworm casts probably contributed to the enrichment of plant-available nutrients and higher soil enzyme activities in organically managed soils.

There has been an increase in demand for organic products in Indonesia along with the incessant slogan of healthy living. In terms of small farmers, organic farming is proven to provide increased income, unfortunately, there is no clear system and strategy in developing organic agriculture in Indonesia. The purpose of this research was to understand the role of key stakeholders in Cisarua Horticulture Organic Farming. Stakeholder analysis used in this research to get knowledge about the actors, their behavior, relationships and their influence on decision - making processes. The information is used to develop the farm strategies, to reach the farm goals and to assess the feasibility of policy directions. The methodology used is the Soft System Methodology (SSM). SSM is an organizational process modeling method that can be used for general problem resolution and change management. Rich picture, Root definitions, and conceptual model were presented in the paper. Data were taken using focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with the farm staffs, farmers of the sustainable horticulture organic farming farm in Cisarua, Indonesia, and national organic farming association. From Stakeholders analysis, four main results were obtained: identifying the relationship among stakeholders; conflicts among them; the stakeholders’ role in farm; and the stakeholders’ interest towards farm program. In conclusion; focusing on one hauler only, investing in seed horticulture products, improving the quality of horticulture products, and mentoring for small-scale farmers were identified as a critical action for the strategy in the organic farming farm in Cisarua, Indonesia. The policy implications of this research are basically to see the contribution of actors in making a strategy.

Agricultural productivity is the key to global food security. Modern conventional farming has substantially increased food production, but at the expense of serious environmental harm [[1][1]]. By contrast, organic production is regarded as a suitable and more sustainable alternative owing to its

Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) data allows identification of crop sequence patterns and diversity in organic and conventional farming systems.

Communitarian cooperative organic rice farming in Hongdong District, South Korea

Tomatoes are among the most consumed vegetables worldwide and represent a source of health-beneficial substances. Our study represents the first investigating the peel-associated epiphytic bacteria of red and purple (anthocyanin-rich) tomatoes subjected to organic and conventional farming systems. Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum (relative abundances 79-91%) in all experimental conditions. Enterobacteriaceae represented a large fraction (39.3-47.5%) of the communities, with Buttiauxella and Atlantibacter as the most represented genera. The core microbiota was composed of 59 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), including the majority of the most abundant ones. The occurrence of the most abundant OTUs differed among the experimental conditions. OTU 1 (Buttiauxella), OTU 2 (Enterobacteriales), and OTU 6 (Bacillales) were higher in red and purple tomatoes grown under organic farming. OTU 5 (Acinetobacter) had the highest abundance in red tomatoes subjected to organic farming. OTU 3 (Atlantibacter) was among the major OTUs in red tomatoes under both farming conditions. OTU 7 (Clavibacter) and OTU 8 (Enterobacteriaceae) had abundances ≥1% only in red tomatoes grown under conventional farming. PCA and clustering analysis highlighted a high similarity between the bacterial communities of red and purple tomatoes grown under organic farming. Furthermore, the bacterial communities of purple tomatoes grown under organic farming showed the lowest diversity and evenness. This work paves the way to understand the role of nutritional superior tomato genotypes, combined with organic farming, to modulate the presence of beneficial/harmful bacteria and supply healthier foods within a sustainable agriculture.

Organic agriculture is the implementation of the sustainable agriculture concept promoted by the World Food Organization (WHO) since 1989. Later, this concept become a global movement for sustainable agriculture (Suryana, 2005). In its development, organic farming of dragon fruit tends to decrease its sustainability. The main contributing factors is natural and environmental degradation phenomena. This study aims to analyze the NPV of corn farming activities, which incidentally are farming activities outside organic dragon fruit farming, by comparing to the NPV of corn farming activities and organic dragon fruit farming NPV and conducting sensitivity analysis toward the benefits and social costs of the dragon-fruit organic farming environment. The analytical method used is cost-benefit analysis. The results showed that there are differences in the value of benefits and costs between corn farming and organic dragon fruit farming. The difference between the benefits and costs, NPV and BCR between corn farming and organic dragon fruit farming occurred because organic dragon fruit farming considers the value of social benefits and social costs, which includes elements of benefits and environmental costs while corn farming does not. Likewise, sensitivity analysis with a 10% increase in costs and a 5% decrease in benefits indicates that the NPV and BCR values are still positive. This shows that both types of farming found in the organic farming environment of dragon fruit are feasible to be developed so that they can maintain their existence for future generations and realize organic farming preservation of dragon fruit.

Organic rice farming aims to achieve sustainable agriculture. It considers social, economic and environmental aspects. However, in practice, farmers experience various technical and economic constraints upon converting non-organic agriculture practice to organic rice farming. The alternative method is to implement semi-organic farming as a transitional period. The purpose of this study is to review technical / production and economic aspects of non-organic, semi-organic, and organic farming. It is conducted to determine whether semi-organic farming could be utilized as a transition period to organic rice farming. The study used a survey method on 75 farmers working in non-organic, semi organic, and organic farm in Priangan Timur, West Java Province, Indonesia. Article’s result exhibited that, in terms of technical cultivation / production, the majority of semi-organic farmers had carried out the stages of organic cultivation. It generated higher productivity compared to non-organic farming. However, productivity remained below organic farming. In terms of economical aspect, income per hectare and R / C value are higher than non-organic farming. However, it is below organic farming. Semi-organic farming could be used as a transition to organic farming.

In this article I underscore how women organic tea farmers build economic resilience through dual enactments as "organic farmers" and as "entrepreneurs." In substantiating both, women question the limited optics through which Fair Trade type sustainability ventures measure their work for a tea cooperative, as well poorly recognizing their entrepreneurial work in their households and community. Women are deeply aware of the politics of Fair Trade where their productive and reproductive labor is appropriated through the labor of organics, where women not only produce the organic green leaf tea but also produce narratives of Fair Trade's success in its certification and gender audits. Thus, to understand what sustains the new wave of "sustainable agriculture" in the global South, we must explore the intersections of organic farming practices with emerging discourses and practices of gendered entrepreneurialism in organic farming communities. In Darjeeling, India, women provide the labor necessary to sustain organics that should ideally come from the Indian state or international trading partners. They fill the gap through their labor, time, creativity and risk-taking. I contend that the success of organic farming depends on critical maneuvers that entail economic and cultural entrepreneurialism, and demonstrate forms of resilience expressed through which women farmers identify and navigate the inadequacies of alternative agriculture and related Fair Trade practices.Keywords: Women organic tea farmers, women entrepreneurs, Fair Trade, rural Darjeeling, risk-taking, resilience

Contents: 1. Society issues, painkiller solutions, dependence and sustainable agriculture; Eric Lichtfouse. 2. Sociology of sustainable agriculture; Ezatollah Karami. 3. Sustainable versus organic agriculture; Vito Sardo. 4. Organic agriculture and food production: ecological, environmental, food safety and nutritional quality issues; Reza Ghorbani. 5. Sustainability of energy crop cultivation in Central Europe; Volkhard Scholz. 6. Phosphorus, plant biodiversity and climate change; Nicole Wrage. 7. Co-evolution and migration of bean and rhizobia in Europe; Paula A. Rodino. 8. Non-isotopic and 13C isotopic approaches to calculate soil organic carbon maintenance requirement; David Clay. 9. Soil solarization and sustainable agriculture; Trifone D'Addabbo. 10. Soil functions and diversity in organic and conventional farming; Supradip Saha. 11. Indigenous soil knowledge for sustainable agriculture; Iin P. Handayani 12. Composting to recycle biowaste; Gyorgy Fuleky 13. Nematodes as biocontrol agents; Tarique Hassan Askary 14. Allelopathy and organic farming; Jana Kalinova 15. Occurrence and physiology of zearalenone as a new plant hormone; Jolanta Biesaga-Kocielniak 16. Homestead agroforestry, a potential resource in Bangladesh; Giashuddin Miah

Sustainable development on a regional scale can be accelerated if organic farming management methods are adopted in Indonesia. This research utilized the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) framework due to its comprehensive coverage of sustainability and accessibility for producers and decision-makers. This study compared the sustainability of certified and non-certified organic as well as non-organic farms in Sleman Regency across four dimensions: good governance, environmental integrity, economic resilience, and social welfare, focusing on how different farming practices impact sustainability indicators. A total of 9 farmer groups participated in this study, categorized based on their farming practices and certification. The results unveiled that certified organic rice farming achieved the highest sustainability score. Specifically, certified organic farmer groups excelled in the economic sub-themes of product quality and information (82%) and local economy (90%), as well as the social sub-themes of labor rights (86%) and equality (80%). Meanwhile, non-certified organic farming performed highly in the local economy sub-theme (82%). In contrast, non-organic farming scored the highest in the sub-themes of investment economy (80%) and fair-trade practices (81%) but demonstrated low scores in holistic management (40%) and impact on the atmosphere (36%). Hence, certified organic rice farming outperformed non-certified organic and non-organic practices regarding sustainability. Key factors affecting farm sustainability included organic fertilizers, sustainable water management, local economic improvement, equity, labor conditions, biodiversity preservation, and product quality and information. These findings highlight the significance of adopting certified organic farming to achieve higher sustainability in agriculture.

Organic farming (OF) is a fast growing alternative for sustainable agriculture in Korea. However, information on the effects of OF on the soil properties and environmental conservation is limited. In order to determine the effects of OF on the soil properties, 31 fields under OF (hereafter referred to as "OF fields") and 61 fields under conventional farming (CF) (hereafter referred to as "CF fields") in plastic film houses were selected throughout Korea and the soil chemical properties were investigated, including the P distribution characteristics. Average organic matter (OM) content was significantly higher (44 g kg-1) in the OF fields then in the CF fields (24 g kg-1). Bray-2 P values were 986 and 935 mg kg-1 in the OF and CF soils, respectively, markedly exceeding the optimum range. Average total P (T-P) values were 2,973 mg kg-1 in the OF fields and 1,830 mg kg-1 in the CF fields. The high T-P values were due to repeated application of manure compost with a low N/P ratio. Inorganic P was the dominant fraction with 62–65% of T-P. The amounts of residual and organic P were significantly lower. The level of OF organic P was significantly higher (453 mg kg-1) compared to the 106 mg kg-1 value for the CF fields. Fractionation of soil inorganic P showed that Ca-P predominated with 1,332 mg kg-1 in the OF fields, which was associated with soil pH values over 6.0. The main inorganic P fraction in the CF soils whose pH values were generally less than 6.0 consisted of Al-/Fe-P. The levels of water-soluble P was significantly higher (65 mg kg-1) in the OF fields than in the CF fields (24 mg kg-1). These results indicated that the OF system may lead to a serious degradation of the soil environment due to the accumulation of phosphorus and may be an important source of water pollution compared to the CF systems in Korea.